Pen Name:
None
Genre:
Memoir, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry
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Bio
Lynne Zotalis is an award-winning author and poet and chairperson for the Silver City chapter of the New Mexico State Poetry Society. Her publications include the R.H. Cunningham Short Story Contest and poetry in numerous publications. Mysterious Existence is her poetry collection published in 2022. Lynne’s creative nonfiction book Hippie at Heart (What I Used to Be, I Still Am) published in 2020 won the Firebird Book Award and was a finalist in the Best Book Awards. Her subsequent book Get Back Up (once more), 2024, takes up the narrative where Hippie at Heart leaves off. Not necessarily a sequel, it does stand alone, but the reader will certainly follow the narrative on this bumpy and complicated road we call life. Along with Shelly Barnett, Leonore Hildebrandt, and Pamela Warren Williams, Lynne contributed to the anthology Upward Spiral (poems of opening and renewal) a finalist in the NM AZ book awards.
Books
Title: GET BACK UP (once more)
Published: August 11, 2024
Genre: Memoir
Get Back Up (once more) unfolds with insight, clarity and candor as Anne endeavors to find her bearings, trying to get a grip after a devastating loss. Asking the tough questions: where is the reason, the meaning, the solemn promise that we adhere to, that echoes in a chamber so deep and primal solidifying our faith, our belief, our trust in life, humankind?! Anne describes her repeated challenges as a means for catharsis, a path to some level of healing. In Get Back Up (once more) anger, frustration, disbelief are all on the canvas of her experiences. “I dread the next loss, but I don’t live there.” These are the details where darkness, personal strength and will are shared with us. Anne has not only taken off her clothes, she has torn away her skin, exposing her wounds and her determination to engage in this life we all are gifted.” Even though life has treated her ill, even though removing herself from this planet was imagined, contemplated, even entertained, there remained a shadow of this life, a fragile thread to cling to that ultimately opens the path to recovery. This story of survival, finding one’s way back from overwhelming grief, will instill hope, restore faith in humanity and give strength to those struggling with this present existence, to Get Back Up (once more).
Available for Sale
Title: Mysterious Existence
Publisher: Human Error Publishing (June 19, 2022)
Genre: Poetry
From life and death to love and loss, this unflinching compilation of poetry explores affirmations of honesty and heartfelt emotion speaking to our shared humanity. Zotalis invites you to venture into the valleys and mountain tops of this courageous collection sometimes humorous, others angry, but always thought provoking where grace and survival are woven throughout the pages like a plumb bob. Lynne Zotalis’ third book.
Available for Sale
Title: Hippie at Heart: What I Used To Be, I Still Am
Published: July 24, 2020
Genre: Memoir
What was she to do stuck in Mexico, Nick’s body interned in a coroner’s seamy examination room? When her husband died the day after their 30th wedding anniversary, Anne had to employ every ounce of fortitude and cunning greasing the wheels of corruption to obtain release of her beloved. Hippie at Heart (What I Used To Be, I Still Am) follows Anne’s 50’s childhood continuing through the tumultuous 60’s and 70’s. Two years stoned on pot, with side trips of acid, mescaline, opium, and peyote, following the pied piper of rock concerts and free love, took its toll. ‘Back to the land,’ a 60’s mantra, led Nick and Anne to the untamed mountains of northern New Mexico. With 8 other families in community they lived on ‘The Mesa,’ 17 miles from civilization. No phone. No running water. No electricity. When daughter Zelda was born in their log cabin, responsibility for another human being quickly changed the trajectory. Unfolding over five decades of love and survival, concealing the mysterious cause of Nick’s death until the final pages, Hippie at Heart is a personal and yet universal journey.
